


she

by sadmax



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Bonding, Coming Out, Gay Will Byers, Gen, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2018-01-10
Packaged: 2019-03-02 23:01:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13328250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadmax/pseuds/sadmax
Summary: Will always felt some sense of comfort with Max.





	she

Will always felt some sense of comfort with Max, he didn’t know her that well like Lucas did, but he always wanted to get closer to her, to know her more.   
At first he thought that maybe he had a crush on her, like the Dustin and Lucas did, that’s why he helped them to figure out if she was Mad Max, right?

No. He didn’t have a crush on her. He realised that after seeing Lucas and Max together, he didn’t felt jealous or sad -not like he did when Mike talked about Jane, or when he saw them together at the snowball-,he felt happy for them, Max deserved someone like Lucas, and Lucas looked so happy when he was with her, so yeah, Will definitely didn’t have a crush on Max.

Later he realised that it was kinda impossible for him to have a crush on her, first of all because he had been in love with the same person since he was in kindergarten and second of all because he didn’t like girls, not like that. 

Still he couldn’t figure out why he felt so calm and comforted by her presence, it’s not like she gave that vibe, most of the time she looked like she was so done with everyone’s shit, more than a half of the things she said were curse words,and she wasn’t a fragile and soft kind of girl. But maybe that’s why Will liked her so much, he had always been surrounded by girls who were so soft that it made him feel wrong for being soft himself, he found some kind of connection between the girl of his classes and himself.   
Max wasn’t like that though, sometimes she was like another boy, and Will didn’t have to be careful around her, he could be himself most of the time.

Max likes to write. Will finds out one evening they are all at Castle Byers. He’s drawing like always, but this time Max is with him, scribbling something on her notebook, brows furrowed and biting her lip, she seems very concentrated and it reminds Will of they way his mother says he looks when he’s immerse in one of his drawings.  
He wants to ask what’s she’s writing, but he’s afraid that maybe that’ll take her out of her zone and she would lose all inspiration, or that maybe she feels offended by Will asking her something that might be personal.   
So he goes back to his drawing, just giving her some casual glances from time to time.

After a while she looked somewhat pleased of what she wrote, closing her notebook and putting it inside of her backpack, and going out to the woods with the rest of the party.  
Will reprimed the urge to grab the notebook and read what she wrote.

 

It’s been two years since everything happened, and it’s been two years since Max joined the party. She was still dating Lucas -even if Will saw her stare just a bit too long at Jane, a spark in her eyes that Will didn’t know what it was but had a sense of familiarity- and she still didn’t have the best relationship with Mike, but after he and Jane apologized for being a couple of dicks with her, everything was easier between them- and surprisingly, Jane and her got along really well, even if Jane was into pretty and soft things and Max wasn’t.

Will had grown closer to her too, spending more time together than with the rest of the Party (except for Lucas, they still hung out more, and sometimes Will felt a little jealous of them). Whenever they hung out, it was just quiet evening’s, both zoomed out on their little worlds, Will pouring everything into the pages of his sketchbook, sometimes doing random doodles of Max, and her writing whatever was going through her head at that moment.  
She never showed Will unless she thought it was important or wanted some kind of feedback.

Sometimes they would switch, just for fun, Will would write and Max would draw. It was like that that they found out that Will had a way with words, he could make things sound soft and natural, so Max encouraged him to write more.  
they also found out that Max wasn’t the best at drawing people but her she had a good hand for landscapes, she always liked to draw but never really got into it, so all she could do was that, but they were good and Will liked to hang those little sketches on the wall above his bed.

Will was sure he could call Max his best friend, after Mike of course, but he felt a kind of love for Max that he didn’t with Mike,it wasn’t a love that left his heart sore and his eyes full of tears sometimes- it was kind and gentle and he knew she would be there for him not matter what.

She was the first person Will came out to. 

He spent days thinking about it, dwelling if he should tell her or not, if it was a good idea. He thought that maybe she’ll tell someone, like Lucas or maybe Jane. He decided that that was a stupid thought, she would never do something like that, not to him.

He decided to tell her one cold december evening, just a couple of days before christmas. They are on Will’s bedroom, sitting on the bed and drawing -writing in Max’s case-. Will looked at her, took a deep breath and put his sketchbook aside, sitting properly on the bed and crossing his legs. Thinking over what he would say- if he could say it.

“Max- I,” he started, and then paused, looking at his hands and fidgeting with his fingers. 

Max was looking at him now, a confused expression on her face, she put down her notebook and scooted closer to him

“Yes, Will?” Will looked at her, his eyes glazing over with unshed tears

“I- I’m…” he let out a sob, his body shaking now. He had never said it out loud to anyone, not even to himself.  
His brother and mom knew, they’ve always known. Even his father. So Will has never said it out loud, because everyone knew, there was no need to. But also a part of himself didn’t want to, he was afraid that if the words ever let his mouth, that if someone -even himself- heard it, it would be too much- it would be true.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, tears streaming down his cheeks

“I’m gay” he finally said. his voice small, barely audible. Will started sobbing, the fear of what came with that confession was too much and it broke him inside

Everything was silent except for Will’s sobs.  
He felt the bed move and dip at his side, and suddenly Max’s arms were wrapped around him, a hand softly stroking his hair and guiding him to her chest, letting him cry there, his sobs muffled by her shirt.

Max was still silent, only comforting Will with her actions.

When Will calmed down, he looked at her, tears still making his eyes burn but he wasn’t crying anymore.  
She was crying quietly, a soft and wary smile on her lips

“Thanks, for telling me,” she said, her voice was broken and small “I’m proud of you”.


End file.
